With Rose Petals and Pink Shields, a Momswap AU
by TheSlimyOne
Summary: What if instead of the Crystal Gems we all know and love, Rose's closest friends and loyal followers were Jasper, Peridot, and Lapis? How would things go down if they were Steven's caretakers instead? In an AU differing significantly from canon, watch Steven as he goes from a naive little boy to Rose's successor as he learns what it means to be a Crystal Gem!
1. Prologue 1: We Are The Crystal Gems!

**Author's Note: Hey paisanos, you're reading a fic by The Slimy One! Now I've always been intrigued by the concept of a Momswap AU, where the Homeworld Gems raised Steven instead of Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst. However, most people just transplant the Homeworld Gems into the Crystal Gem's roles (Jasper instead of Garnet, Peridot instead of Pearl, and Lapis instead of Amethyst) with no changes, and that's kinda lame. I'm of the opinion that there's a lot of interesting concepts to explore since Jasper, Lapis, and Peridot are very, very different from the Crystal Gems. How would they react to certain events from the show? Would there even be a trio of antagonistic Gems? How would they be as surrogate parents? Why would they follow Rose Quartz? How would interactions between them and the townies go down? There are so many cool things to explore... and I hope that I do a competent job at it.**

 **Now a couple of warnings: the first being that events in this story will differ significantly from canon in regards to the personalities of the Diamonds, what Homeworld is like, the kind of events that happen during Steven's growth as a Crystal Gem... I mean, I don't just want to retread old ground from the show, so don't expect stuff like Coach Steven, only with Malachite instead of Sugilite. Also, here's a spoiler warning: the fic in general will borrow upon things that are revealed as the series goes on, so I'm just gonna throw a general series-wide spoiler just to be safe. Now, sit back... and enjoy this Momswap fic.**

Prologue: We Are The Crystal Gems!

"Look alive, Shtuball! We're here!"

The five year old Steven Quartz Universe looked up from the little ukulele he was strumming, and went starry-eyed at the sight before him. His father, the overweight and bearded former rock star known as Greg Universe had pulled up to the Crystal Temple, a stone structure built into a cliff on the outskirts of Beach City. It was an enormous statue of his late mother Rose Quartz, and was home to her best friends and sisters-in-arms: The Crystal Gems, who were all waiting at the front of the structure.

And Steven was absolutely excited to meet them: he had only known of them from the stories his dad told as well as the pictures he'd show, but he thought they were just the bee's knees. They were basically superheroes who kept his hometown of Beach City and the surrounding areas safe from all kinds of scary monsters, and they've been doing this for thousands of years! And in honor of the trio, Steven had spent the week trying to come up with a song for them on the ukulele that Greg had given him: a neat little ditty that he hoped the Crystal Gems would get a kick out of and maybe even turn into their official theme song! Provided, of course, that they didn't already have one.

"Well sport, what do ya say? Are you ready to meet the Crystal Gems?" Greg asked as he parked the van and unbuckled his seatbelt. Steven nodded enthusiastically and followed suit. After opening the door, the jumped down onto the soft, sandy ground and ran to his father's side. "Oh man, looks like I didn't even need to ask!" Greg gave a lighthearted chuckle as he and his son made their way to the Gems. Their leader, a towering muscular brute named Jasper, whose Gemstone was located in place of where a nose should be. While she strode over to the group, Steven was amazed by her form. Her predatory eyes, her orange skin, the thick red stripes that decorated said skin, her bushy mane of thick long hair, the heroic way she carried herself... it was like he was looking at a tiger in human form. And it wasn't just her appearance that was tiger-like, but her manner of speaking as well.

"Afternoon, Greg," Jasper growled in a raspy, guttural voice before turning down to Steven. His eyes went starry the second Jasper's powerful gaze fell upon him, and her full lips shifted from a neutral expression to a small smile. "And you must be the one they call Steven! I'm Jasper, de facto leader of the Crystal Gems! Nice to meet you, kid." Jasper stretched out a muscular bicep, which caused Steven's mouth to fall wide open. Jasper, the biggest and strongest of the Crystal Gems wanted to shake his hand! _His_ hand! Steven was at a loss for words. Should he shake her hand?! What if his grip wasn't good enough, and she wrote him off because of it?! Would he really lose his standing with the Gems if he messed up a handshake?! Not really sure what to do, Steven gave a panicked yelp and jumped behind his dad's leg, where he peeked out at the towering brute.

"Aw, Steven!" Greg chuckled as he reached down and put a hand on the nervous boy's shoulder. "Don't you want to say hi to Jasper? She and her friends really wanna meet you!"

To Steven's relief however, Jasper didn't seem offended. In fact, she gave a hearty, raspy chuckle as she shook her head. "Who would have known that Rose's kid would be such a shy little thing?" She then turned to Steven and beckoned him over. "Come on, kid! I won't bite, Quartz's honor!"

"Oh Jasper, would you _stop?_ " The green, triangular-haired Gem known as Peridot snarled in a nasally voice as she stepped over to her leader's side, "I _told_ you that it would be best if _I_ were the first to greet Steven! But _no,_ you _had_ to intimidate the poor child right off the bat! He doesn't need some scary brute leering down at him as his first exposure to the Crystal Gems!" With a disgusted snarl, Peridot soon changed her tune as she gave a rather smug, self-confident smile to Steven, who was intrigued by her oddly shaped feet and strange, floating fingers. "Hello, Steven! I'm Peridot, the _greatest_ Crystal Gem of the bunch. Unlike a _certain_ smelly brute, I consider myself to be a very kind and understanding _maternal_ figure!"

Steven gave a shy smile and waved at Peridot, who cackled like a giddy schoolgirl as she pointed at Steven with a disembodied finger, "See?! SEE?! HE isn't scared of me!" Peridot boasted, which elicited a groan and eye-roll from Jasper. "In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if I was his favorite Gem! HEY, STEVEN!" Steven's smile was replaced with a worried frown as Peridot approached his hiding spot behind Greg's leg and leered down at him. "Who would you consider to be your favorite Gem?! It's me, right? Right?!"

"Uh... uh...!" Not liking the fact that he was put on the spot like that, Steven averted his gaze to the ground and twiddled with his thumbs while Peridot waited for her answer. Truth be told, he thought they were all pretty cool... but would Peridot accept that? He could just lie and say that he liked her the most... but what if that hurt the other Gems' feelings?

"Alright, Peridot? Back off." Peridot gave a cry of annoyed surprise when she was shoved out of the way. Intrigued by the new voice, which was far more gentle and soft than the previous Gem's, the new speaker sat down on the ground and faced Steven at eye level. She was Lapis Lazuli, the third Crystal Gem, who was rather pretty: out of all the Gems she looked the most like a regular human, only with blue skin and hair that was a darker shade. She was rather waifish and thin, and unlike Jasper who favored a set of what appeared to be orange leather armor, or Peridot who was dressed in a jumpsuit, Lapis wore a midriff-baring dress as if she were like the many human beachgoers Steven saw on a daily basis. This odd feeling of familiarity put Steven at ease while Lapis gave a gentle chuckle.

"Aw, hey there! You're Steven, right?" His cheeks a bright red, Steven gave her a curt nod while he let go of his dad's leg and hugged his ukulele close. "Well hi there, Steven! I'm Lapis Lazuli! We've heard so much about you from your dad, and I'm glad to meet you!" Steven smiled, but continued staring at the floor, not opening his mouth out of fear of saying something stupid. Lapis gave another gentle giggle while she ruffled his curly hair. "Hey, I can't help but notice that cool little instrument you've got there. Do you like to play music?" Steven nodded while Greg ruffled his hair this time.

"Yep! Just like his old man!" Greg chuckled, "In fact, he wanted to play a song for you guys!" When Greg pointed that out, Steven gasped, blushed, and stared at the ground.

"A song, huh?" Jasper stated with a dry chuckle, "That's Rose's kid, alright."

"I can't imagine that it would sound good, though." Peridot stated with the bluntness of a sledgehammer, causing Jasper to grab her by the shoulders.

"Watch your tongue, Peridot!" Jasper snarled while shaking the smaller Gem, "That's Rose's kid you're talking about, so show some respect! Maintain discipline!"

"I'm just saying, Jasper! He's only a child!" Peridot argued as she broke free from the brute's grasp and got her floating fingers to connect. Interlocked, they formed a holographic green screen that showed a mess of words that were too big for Steven to understand, as well as an image of a child. "He hasn't had the time, the experience, nor the training to adequately play an instrument!"

"You aren't helping, Peridot. _Shut up._ " Jasper growled while Peridot swallowed down a big, nervous lump. She put away the screen and stepped back, her cheeks a dark green. Steven felt deeply uncomfortable watching the heroes bicker, and thankfully Lapis seemed to notice. She smiled and cleared her throat.

" _Anyway_ you guys, Steven has a song he wants to play for us! So how about we sit down, shut up, and listen?" She then turned to Steven and giggled, "Come on, Steven! It'll be great!"

"Well, I'm pretty curious as to what kind of song he's going to play." Jasper stated as she and Peridot approached Steven. She plopped down on the ground while Peridot neatly sat down. "So come on, kid! Show us what you've got!"

"Even if it's bad, you still have my full support!" Peridot stated before getting slammed with a powerful elbow, courtesy of Jasper. "GAH! Watch it, you clod!"

"Whoa, Peridot! Watch the language!" Greg scolded as he sat next to Steven. "Anyway Shtuball, you ready to rock their socks off?"

It was certainly different, having to play for a crowd as opposed to just a supportive dad and maybe his pal Vidalia at most. Steven was ready to give the strings a strum, but his fingers trembled. What if he botched the song? What if they laughed at him? He bit down on his bottom lip in his hesitation, and once again Lapis was quick to catch on.

"Hey, Steven! You want to see something cool?" Lapis asked, to which Steven nodded. "Alright then, watch this!" Lapis reached towards the beach, and clenched a hand. With a gasp, Steven stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed as a ball of water left the salty sea and floated towards the band of Gems and humans. Lapis cupped her hands and let the ball of water settle in her grip. She then took a deep breath, and all of a sudden a tiny little whale made entirely out of water jumped out of the ball and began swimming circles in the ball.

"WHOA! That's so cool!" Steven gasped in a high and squeaky voice while he marveled at the tiny whale. Lapis smiled, same with the whale who went as far as to wave a flipper at him.

"My whale buddy thinks you're pretty cool too, Steven!" Lapis said while the water whale nodded, "In fact, you're so cool, he wants to give you some fin! So come on, give him five!" The tiny whale held up a fin, which caused Steven to smile.

"Gimme five, tiny whale!" Steven laughed as he stretched out a palm and let the whale smack it with a fin.

"You see, Steven? If you're cool enough for a tiny whale to give you some fin, I bet you're cool enough to... what was it, Greg?"

"Rock our socks off!"

"Yeah, you'll rock our socks off! Come on, Steven!"

His spirits high after the tiny whale's high five, Steven looked at the Gems and his dad, who were all smiling at him. Without a hint of blush in his cheeks, Steven took a deep breath, gave the ukulele a preliminary strum, and let his fingers and his voice take control as if his brain were on autopilot.

 _If you're evil and you're on the rise_

 _You can count on the four of us taking you down!_

 _Because we're good and evil never beats us!_

 _We'll win the fight and go out for pizzas!_

 _We are the Crystal Gems!_

 _We'll always save the day!_

 _And if you think we can't_

 _We'll always find a way!_

 _That's why the people of this world believe in_

 _Jasper, Peridot, Lapis, AND STEVEN!_

With the final ukulele strum, the Gems and Greg clapped and cheered, with the exception of Peridot. Since her hands didn't allow clapping, she simply gave a fist pump.

"WOW!" Peridot exclaimed with genuine joy in her voice, "That was actually good!"

"Great job, kid! Rose would be proud!" Jasper boomed.

"Seriously Steven, that was a great song!" Lapis cheered before giggling, "But I couldn't help but notice a little something about those lyrics..."

Knowing what Lapis was referring to, Steven blushed and looked down. It was self-indulgent, sure. But he couldn't help but insert himself in the lyrics. He knew it was never going to happen... but the thought of being a Crystal Gem was so cool! The thought of him helping these three with their missions was a recurring fantasy of his, and the subject of a number of good dreams as well.

"Trust me, it didn't escape my notice." Jasper gave a chuckle, and smiled at Steven while she got up from the ground and dusted sand off her rear. "Well if you're already writing songs where you tag along with us... then I bet you'll like this bit of news. Greg, you want to fill him in?"

"Oh yeah, sure!" Greg chuckled, though Steven was a bit perplexed by the fact that his tone took on a slightly somber edge. "Hey Shtuball, I haven't told you this yet 'cause I wanted it to be a surprise, but in the near future you're gonna be living with the Crystal Gems."

Steven went starry-eyed at the sound of this. Was this a dream?! Was this just a fantasy?! After all the time Steven spent listening to Greg's stories about the Crystal Gems... "I-I-I'm living with the Crystal Gems?!"

"Damn straight!" Jasper noted while Greg and Peridot gave a horrified shriek in unison.

"Language, Jasper! LANGUAGE!" they both cried out while Jasper smirked.

"You see Steven, you aren't like other humans. You're part Gem, part Rose Quartz specifically." Jasper stated as she lifted Steven's shirt a bit with one of her sausage-like fingers. Attached where a belly button should be was a pink, round Rose Quartz stone. He knew that it was his mom's Gem, and that it was almost like a memento from her before she passed on. However, he didn't really think there was anything special about it, a preconception that seemed like it was subject to change.

"Now, Steven," Peridot piped up after the shock of Jasper's swearing wore off, "Due to your hybrid status, it's unknown how in tune to your Gem side you are. You're the first of your kind, as this is the first time a Gem ever produced her own offspring. But the fact that your mother's stone is connected to you, we believe that it's safe to assume that you have Gem powers laying dormant inside of you!"

"Like shapeshifting!" Lapis chuckled. She tensed up, and suddenly her body was swallowed up in a bright light. When the light subsided, Steven was shocked to see that Lapis transformed entirely from her original form to a small blue Steven, only with her shirt displaying the Crystal Gem's large four-point star logo instead of the fat five-sided star on Steven's shirt.

"WHOA!" Steven gasped in amazement while Peridot frowned. With a smirk, the Lapis!Steven reverted back into the normal Lapis Lazuli.

"Us Gems can summon weapons as well!" Jasper laughed as a light shined from her nose Gem. With a flash of light, a thick orange helmet shaped like a pompadour was atop her head. "It probably won't be a helmet, but I bet that you have a weapon of your own tucked away deep in that Gem of yours!" Jasper gave a hearty chuckle while Peridot sulked.

"I've got a weapon too?! COOL!" Steven laughed while he lifted his shirt up and started slapping his Gem. "Come on, I wanna see my weapon! I wanna see!"

"STEVEN, NO!" Peridot shrieked as she fired her fingers, which restrained Steven's hand, "Under no circumstances whatsoever are you to use physical force on your Gemstone! Understand?!"

Taken aback, Steven swallowed down a nervous lump as a frenzied Peridot stared down at him like a maniac, her eyes twitchy and wide. "O-OK." Steven lowered his hand and frowned.

"A-anyway," Peridot sighed after she allowed the initial shock to wear off, "From what Greg has told us, you haven't shown any signs of magical powers like your mother. While there _is_ a chance that this means that you lack powers, you could also very well have them! Due to your human nature, it's likely that they will manifest as you grow. And that's why until you become eighteen, your father has allowed you to live with us at the Crystal Temple, so we can monitor your growth and help you hone your powers. Provided, of course, that you have them."

Steven looked at Greg, who surprisingly looked quite down for such a cool occasion. He noticed Steven's look of concern, and cleared his throat, quickly changing to a half-hearted smile. "But you're not living with them right away, so you can still spend lots of time with your dear old dad!" He gave a nervous laugh after this, and continued, "But over the next year or so, the Gems and I are gonna build you an extension of the temple that you can live in! A nice house with a TV, a kitchen, a couch, a bed, you name it!"

"That's so cool, dad!" Steven said, his eyes starry and bright before going back to normal. "But... are you gonna live there too?"

"Ah... well..." Greg's tone went back to sad and hesitant. "Well... no. It's... well..." He gave a nervous glance towards the Gems. When Steven followed suit, he was surprised to see that no goodwill was in their eyes. All three, even the friendly Lapis were giving Greg the stinkeye. Steven had no idea why they'd look so angry at his dad, but before he could ask Greg piped back up. "You see Steven, I'm just a human! An ordinary, squishy guy with no magic powers! Being around Gem stuff can get... kinda dangerous for a guy like me. I talked it over with the Gems, and it's probably best that I keep my distance." He gave the Gems an awkward glance before looking back at Steven. "But don't worry kiddo, you'll still get to hang out with your old man! You can see me every week or so at the car wash! I'll be there, living in my van."

While it was disappointing to know that Greg couldn't live with Steven anymore, he was at least relieved to know that he could still visit him, which to a naive child like him was enough to quash any feelings of doubt in his mind. So when Jasper turned down and asked "So kid, any objections?" He could give an easy "Nope!"

"Well that's good to hear!" Jasper cackled while giving Steven a friendly pat on the back. "Well then, I see no reason to keep you waiting! I trust you have the tools needed, Greg?"

"Yeah, they're in my van! And I assume you guys have wood?"

Lapis sniggered, which confused Steven. The glares of annoyance that Jasper and Peridot shot her way were even more confusing.

"Yes, we do." Jasper growled while Lapis settled down and smiled smugly. "ANYWAY, I see no reason to stand on ceremony: we have a house to build! So Greg, Peridot, you two better get moving! If we work fast enough, we'll have it ready in HALF a year! Now move it! GO GO GO GO GO!" Greg and Peridot scrambled to the back of the van, threw the doors open, and each grabbed a few tools. While they ran over to the Temple, Jasper turned to Lapis. "Since we all know you'll just goof off anyway, you're exempt from house duty, Lapis."

"YES!" Lapis cheered with a fist pump.

"Instead, you can keep an eye on Steven and keep him entertained while we work."

"I can get behind that." Lapis stated with a grin.

"Good, now get to work!" With a final snarl, Jasper lumbered over to the temple while Steven stared at it in awe. To think that in around a year's time, he'd be living with the Gems. And maybe... just maybe, even go on missions with them! But before he could lose himself to his usual Crystal Gem daydreams, he was caught off-guard by Lapis tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Steven! Watch this!" Lapis then cleared her throat and bellowed "HEY JASPER!"

Hearing her name, the bulky orange Gem turned around. "Make it snappy Lapis, I have work to do!"

Lapis didn't _say_ anything... instead, her response was to raise a hand to her mouth and blow into it, creating an obnoxiously loud fart noise that rang through the air. Caught completely off guard, Steven descended into hysterics while Lapis' fart noise trailed on an on. Jasper however was far less amused.

"..grow up." After giving Lapis an unimpressed glare, she turned and stomped off, only for Lapis to let loose another fart noise.

"Steven, come on!" Lapis hissed after cutting her current noise short, "Do it with me!"

A mischievous grin on his face, Steven raised a hand, took a deep breath, and joined in with the blowing. Jasper jumped and noticed to her horror that Lapis' behavior rubbed off on Steven.

" **LAPIS!** "

Steven and Lapis both laughed at the irate Gem who continued stomping away, both taking turns hurling fart noises her way. Even after she stepped out of sight Steven continued the fart noises, with Lapis absolutely happy that she found an apprentice to pass her craft to. She was liking this kid already.

 **XxX**

( **Author's Note** : PHEW. That was a long chapter! In general, my chapters tend to be on the longer side of things, so just a heads up for those who want to continue following. But honestly, I really hope you guys enjoyed what I wrote so far! More than anything I'm worried that no one felt in character. While I wanted to capture everyone's main traits, I wanted to change them a bit so they'd feel more heroic, mainly with Jasper. She's a gruff asshole in canon, so I hope that while nicer, she still felt believable. I also hope that Lapis felt in character, she's really hard for me to write since even in-canon, her personality seems to dramatically change depending on the episode. In general, I wanted her to come off as sort of like Garnet and Amethyst in a way: doesn't really gel well with the others but is sweet to Steven, and is a bit of a prankster. She'll definitely have more Lapis-like traits down the road... But anyway, that'll be it. Don't expect updates to be super frequent, though I promise to give warning if I do as the show does and go on hiatus. :p)

(And a few notes: I decided that in this AU, the Crystal Temple does NOT resemble the unnamed assumed Temple fusion, but Rose Quartz. There's a reason that will be made clear as the story goes on. ;) Also, I'm going to promise that swearing will NOT be a frequent thing either as I want it to feel as close to the show's spirit as possible. The only people who would swear on the rare times it happens are the ones who would pull it off, like Jasper.)


	2. Prologue 2: Story For Steven!

"Alright Steven, you ready to go?"

Situated in a large pink inner tube slightly far out at sea, Steven could only giggle while he felt a mass of water bubbling underneath him. Back at the shoreline, a sly grin spread across Lapis' face as she clenched an outstretched hand.

"'I think I'll take that as a "yes". From this point on, no last minute wimping out!"

Steven giggled harder, closed his eyes, and braced for impact by tightly gripping the sides of his inner tube.

"Alright Steven, here it comes! Five, four, three, two, one..."

"BLAST OFF!" Steven yelled out, laughing with a childish glee as a huge geyser erupted out from underneath him, and shot him high into the sky. The boy's eyes went starry and his heart soared as he was propelled higher and higher into the air: the sun was setting on beach city, and the view from way up there was _spectacular_. Bathed in the cozy orange sunlight, Beach City seemed to shrink beneath him and look less like a humble, cozy little beachside town, and more like a child's playset surrounded by a patchwork carpet of highways, wilderness, and forests. He went so high he could almost touch the clouds, but to his disappointment he began his descent right when he reached out to do so. He plummeted back down to Earth at a speed that would frighten the life out of any good parent, but fortunately for him, his new friend Lapis swooped out from below to save him from his fall.

"Whoa there, Steven! Don't want you to fall and kill yourself now!" Lapis stated cheerfully while she flew through the air with a pair of watery wings sprouting from her Gem. Tucked close to her chest, Steven could only laugh and cheer while he and his friend made their descent.

"Again Lapis, do it again!"

"Again, huh? Well then, I'll set you down nice and easy, and then-"

"OH MY GOD, LAPIS!"

Lapis landed and set Steven on the ground while a panicky Greg ran up to the duo, pale as a ghost and sweating like crazy. Peridot wasn't far behind and had a similar expression, but Jasper casually strolled over with a content grin on her face.

"-or not," Lapis pouted while Greg and Peridot began screeching at her.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, LAZULI?! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HIM!"

"Geez Lapis, could you tone down the rough-housing a bit?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh come off it, you two," Jasper snorted at the hysterical duo as she folded her arms and gazed down at Steven with a look of fierce pride in her eyes, "He's half-Quartz for crying out loud! For a little warrior in the making, this is _exactly_ the kind of fun he should be having! I'd say Lapis had the right idea for once."

"But he's also half soft and squishy human being!" Greg protested shrilly, "Come on Jasper, can't you at least save the really rough stuff for when he's older?!"

"I concur with Greg!" Peridot chimed in before turning to Lapis, " _Seriously_ Lazuli, we've been around Steven for mere hours, and yet you're _already_ putting him in danger? You clod!"

"Come on, would you guys just chill out?" Lapis huffed with a grumpy sigh, "Steven is _completely_ safe in my hands! And seriously, did you see how much _fun_ he was having?"

Right on cue, Steven tugged on Lapis' sarong and gave an excited squeak of "Again again! Blast me off again, Lapis!" The blue Gem simply giggled and gave his curly locks an affectionate rustle.

"Sorry Shtuball, but I'm gonna have to put the kibosh on this whole "Blasting off" thing!" Greg responded to the disappointed duo, "I mean seriously: if Lapis missed you on your way down, I... agh..." Greg shuddered and gave a squeal of horror.

"Again, I'm echoing Greg's sentiment here: you can be as careful as you want Lazuli, but there is always, _always_ room for error! And may Yellow Diamond herself strike me down if I'm going to let Rose's child die because of your recklessness!"

"Feh, lightweights." Jasper scoffed before shrugging, "But hey: it's not like I have the authority to overrule this decision: until that house is built, Greg's word concerning the kid is law."

Steven had hoped that Jasper would vouch for him, but no. Looks like he wouldn't go soaring up to the sky again, much to the wannabe rocket man's disappointment. He glanced sadly at the ground while Lapis scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Okay". Steven murmured, while Lapis replied with a flippant "Whatever, _boss_."

Peridot and Jasper both glared at their moody comrade, but chipper as always, Greg was quick to break the tension. "Hey Shtuball, don't be upset! Even if you can't blast off, you can still do all kinds of cool things! You and Lapis can build sand castles, have water fights... you don't have to be in danger to have fun!"

Steven shrugged, not really sure how to feel. Normally that sort of thing would be fun, but when you were doing it with a new friend who could blast you into the sky with her cool water powers, it just felt a bit mundane...

"Alright, you ladies done squabbling about beach time activities? Because if you haven't noticed, we've got a house to build!" Jasper growled while pointing a commanding finger at the wooden foundation in front of the Temple, "So come on and get to work! The more time spent working, the sooner Rose's kid moves in!" She then glanced down at Steven and flashed a naughty half grin at him, "And the sooner he can get back to blasting off."

Steven giggled, excited by Jasper's promise of more skybound adventures in his immediate future. For a woman as intimidating as she was, he was surprised by how nice she was to him! Though he couldn't help but feel bad while watching Greg and Peridot get dragged off back to working on his future house. He knew first hand that chores weren't fun.

"So, Steven... looks like we've got to find an alternative to blasting off, huh?" Lapis gently asked her little friend, "So what would you like to do instead? Sand castles? Water fights?" She then grinned as she summoned a blob of water from the sea and spun it around in a playful manner, "If that's what you wanna do then be careful: I'm _good_."

Steven thought about both options, but simply frowned and shook his head. "I don't wanna do either." He stated plainly.

"Heh. Not your idea of fun, huh?" Lapis answered as she let the water ball splash onto the sand, "I can understand: that must be a real step down from the kind of fun we were having earlier. Well then, what would you like to do instead?"

Steven placed a contemplative hand to his chin as he glanced up at nothing in particular and thought long and hard about what to do. He spent a few seconds considering his options before having an epiphany: he remembered hearing from his dad that the Crystal Gems had been friends with his mom for thousands of years, and that they've spent all that time fighting evil! Why not have her share some tales of their adventures together?

"Can you tell me a story?" he asked aloud.

"A story?" Lapis asked while Steven nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, yeah! Tell me a story about all the cool Gem stuff you guys do! Come on, story for Steven! Story for Steven!"

"Cool Gem stuff, huh?" Lapis answered, "Now _that_ is a fun topic for sure. Do you have anything you want to hear about in particular? 'Cause there's a _massive_ backlog of stories we can choose from."

Steven's eyes went starry when he thought about the possibilities. Fights with monsters, journeys through dangerous and exotic locales: there was just so much to talk about! But it was hard to decide for himself: there were so many cool stories to hear and Greg had shared a decent amount with him: The Crystal Gems vs the Sentient Island, the Crystal Gems and the Centipeetle Infestation...

"Can't decide, huh?" Lapis asked breaking the silence. Steven gasped, surprised that she seemingly read his mind, but then nodded. "Well then," she stated as she smirked in Jasper and Peridot's general direction, "I think I've got just the story for you! But oh boy, Peridot and Jasper are _not_ gonna be happy that I shared this with you before they could...

Lapis then summoned a beach-ball sized blob of seawater with a clutch of her hand and levitated over to the duo. She sat down and Steven followed suit. Lapis then levitated the ball to where it hovered mere centimeters above the sand. "Well then Steven, sit back and get comfortable! Because today, you're gonna hear the story about how your mom defeated a bunch of really, really bad Gems!"

Steven gave a gasp of surprise. There were _bad_ Gems?! Seriously?! After seeing how welcoming Lapis, Jasper, and Peridot were towards him, it was hard for the five year old to wrap his mind around such a concept. But he was definitely intrigued, as shown by him sitting dutifully and quietly for his friendly blue storyteller.

"Anyway..." Lapis took a second to clear her throat, and she spread open her clutched hand. The watery sphere collapsed, leading to a large, flat plane of water in its wake. "Long, long ago, _way_ longer than before you humans started recording your history, there was a planet really far away from the Earth." Suddenly, a small sphere erupted forth from the floating pool of water, and started slowly rotating in place. "And this wasn't just any planet Steven, it was a _special_ one. You know what made it special?" Lapis waited for the inevitable shaking of Steven's head, then continued, "It was Homeworld, which was completely populated by Gems like me and Jasper! That's where we came from you know!"

"WHOA!" Steven gasped, his eyes sparkling brilliantly, "Y-You guys are aliens?!"

"Heh, I guess you could say that," Lapis responded with a giggle, "But yeah, back on Homeworld there were lots of different Gems. And we each had roles to play! We had big, strong Quartz soldiers, tiny Ruby troopers, skinny Pearl servants..." the watery planet then broke apart, only for the watery globs to form shapes: figures that Steven could only assume were other Gems: some were huge and long-haired like Jasper, others were short and squat with cube-shaped hairdos, and there were other more exotic designs such as a long-nosed Gem with hair shaped like a crescent moon, or what appeared to be a tiny little fairy Gem...

"And a lot of these Gems were great people! I mean, just look at your mom and I," Lapis gave a smug little chuckle after her boasting. But soon after that, Lapis' cheery and snide demeanor vanished, and she was now glaring at the crowd of smiling, watery Gems, "But you remember what I said about bad Gems, Steven?" Steven nodded. "Unfortunately, at the heart of Gem society, we had four nasty, awful, downright _monstrous_ tyrants who ran the show. These... were the Diamonds."

The smiling Gems suddenly dissolved back into formless water, which was then quick to shape itself into four larger beings who easily towered over the smaller Gems that had previously occupied their space. All four Gems had distinctive hairstyles: One Diamond had her hair standing up like a set of mean-looking spikes, another had long billowy locks that ran all the way down her back, another had a rather sharp-looking hairstyle reminiscent of a pompadour, and the last had a shock of hair that was hard to describe as anything other than what would be the result of styling a full head of hair into a mohawk. But while their hairstyles varied, all four Diamonds had the same sort of facial expression: gaunt, haunting faces with soulless eyes and pitiless faces. It was tempting for Steven to shield his eyes and whimper in the face of such terrifying women, but he decided that he couldn't afford to look like a wimp in front of Lapis and settled for just staring at their interesting hairstyles.

"White Diamond, Blue Diamond, Yellow Diamond, and Pink Diamond... the "Great Diamond Authority." These Gems ruled over Homeworld with an iron fist and controlled every aspect of our lives. If us Gems decided to act outside of our given purpose? If we showed any independent thought? Or worse: if we were born defective or misshapen? We'd be shattered- _killed_ for not conforming with their standards."

"No!" Steven cried out in horror. Killing people who didn't act the way you wanted to? How could someone, let alone four people be so cruel?!

"Oh yeah, and that's not all Steven: do you know how the Diamonds spread the influence of the Gem Empire?"

Steven wasn't sure if he wanted to know, but he listened carefully anyway. After all, he had to stay strong for Lapis.

"They'd invade planets and drain all the life from them. What would start as a lovely paradise like the Earth would end up a dry, hollowed out shell that the Diamonds would turn into a new Homeworld territory. And they did this to over thirty planets, too..."

What ensued was what Steven could only call a horror show: more water from the "pond" rose up around the Diamonds, and took the forms of ragged-looking planets with huge holes eaten out of them, as well as crying and screaming Gems who cowered before the tyrants that towered above them. "For thousands of years the Diamonds did all sorts of horrible, awful things, and no one could stop them. Nobody _wanted_ to. Because when you're just an ordinary Gem, what are you gonna _do_ against an enemy that's bigger than all of Beach City's Buildings, powerful enough to shatter tons of Gems at once, and leading an army formed by millions of loyal soldiers?"

But as dire and scary as this prospect was, Lapis' tone changed from dour and solemn to snide and smug, with a playful half-smile on her face. "But while most Gems were too scared to fight against their oppressors, one brave Gem took it upon herself to stand up to the Diamonds. That Gem? Rose Quartz." Lapis then caused the broken planets and scared Gems to dissipate, and replaced the with a rather bulky, curvaceous, and all around _gorgeous_ woman with hair styled in a set of enormous, curly ringlets.

"Mom!" Steven gasped while Lapis gave a dreamy sigh and wistfully stared at the watery rendition of the late, great leader of the Crystal Gems.

"You see Steven: your mom was probably one of the nicest Gems I've ever met: Gems, humans, and other types of organic life all held equal value to her, and she hated seeing how much suffering the Diamonds spread! Planetary Genocide, oppressive dictatorships... I wouldn't be able to tell you the exact circumstances leading up to it, but it was around five thousand years ago when the Diamonds were trying to colonize the Earth, and Rose decided that she had enough."

With a swift flick of Lapis' wrist, water Rose suddenly summoned a sword and a shield, and pointed her weapon at the Diamonds, who gawked down at her in surprise. "So she broke off from Homeworld and declared war against them!"

Steven gasped, utterly floored by his mother's display of courage and goodwill.

"And it was rough at the start: Rose found herself pitted against _the_ most powerful beings in existence and the millions of loyal flunkies they led into battle, and all she had backing her up were a small group of loyal followers! But over the course of a thousand years, Rose was able to stand up to Homeworld with her guerilla tactics and was able to slowly, but surely sway more and more Gems from Homeworld's side into joining her rebellion with her charisma and mercy. And guess what?"

"What?" Steven asked, the tension nearly killing him despite him having a good idea of how it would end.

"She beat the Diamonds!" Lapis answered triumphantly while throwing a blue fist into the air, which led to the watery Rose springing to life and attacking each Diamond, which resulted in them losing shape and splattering down into the pool of water they were levitating over. "One by one she shattered them, starting with White, then moving on to Blue..." Lapis then interrupted herself with a dark chuckle, "Heh, a real shame I wasn't present at the time. It would have been _way_ too satisfying to see Rose go in for the kill... anyway, she then took down her own Diamond, Pink Diamond, and finished with the nastiest, cruelest of the bunch: Yellow Diamond. After her death, we were finally free. No more Homeworld. Earth wouldn't be hollowed out and destroyed. We won..."

While that was an undoubtedly heroic feat for good old Rose, Steven couldn't help but be a bit disconcerted over Lapis' attitude while discussing the last part. The proud and cheery vigor frome earlier... it had been replaced with a somber, sullen sense of emptiness, which worried poor Steven. "Lapis? Are you okay? You seem really sad."

"Heh, perceptive like your mom, I see," Lapis replied with a sad chuckle. She then sidled over to where she was seated directly to Steven's left, and sighed while placing a friendly arm over his shoulders. "But you're right on the money little guy: even though we won against the Diamond Authority... it came with a huge cost. Do you remember ever seeing other Gems aside from yourself, Peridot, Jasper and I?"

Steven was about to nod before stopping himself. It was funny: he had never really put too much thought into it, but after taking some time to think about it, he never _did_ see any other Gems running around.

"You see Steven... when Rose fought Yellow Diamond, _just_ before beating her, Yellow Diamond had one last trick up her sleeve. Again, I wasn't there to see it but Jasper told me that with the power of... some sort of superweapon at her disposal, Yellow Diamond wiped out every single Gem that was still left on the Earth: her troops and our own alike. Rose was able to survive thanks to her shield, but aside from Peridot and Jasper being close enough for her to shield from the blast... no other Gems are left. Or at least, not as we know them."

She sighed again and shook her head. "It's... a really complicated matter, actually. You'll learn more when you're older, but for the sake of convenience: we're the only Crystal Gems left. And that's not even going into how Rose isn't around either..."

Lapis simply let all the water splash onto the ground, and Steven glumly stared into the huge patch of brown-stained ground before him. He wasn't really sure what to _say_ about such a heavy topic. Here he was, a boy whose biggest tragedy that he could remember was Preteen Samurai Possum Mutants being cancelled on a cliffhanger. But he couldn't just let Lapis sit there all sad about the lack of surviving friends! Even if it was woefully inadequate, Steven still grasped Lapis' arm with a chubby little hand and looked her right in the eyes.

"I'm really sorry, Lapis. Is there anything I can do to make you guys happy?"

While initially cringing from just asking such a wimpy question, Steven's spirits picked up when a genuine laugh escaped Lapis' mouth. "Aw, Steven! That's sweet of you to offer, but nah. You don't need to do anything for us! It's just the kind of thing we have to deal with ourselves..." But she then removed her arm from Steven's shoulder to rustle his curly locks again, before continuing. "You know what though? Just being around someone as sweet and adorable as you has done my mood wonders. I seriously can't wait until you get to live with us!"

Steven couldn't wait either: just the thought of going on adventures and fighting monsters was the coolest thing ever! But there was something else about Lapis' story that bugged him a bit. Something he wanted clarification for.

"Lapis?"

"Yeah?"

"You kept saying that you didn't get to see mom fight those mean Gems. How come?"

"Ah, you noticed that, huh?" Lapis stated, "Well you see Steven... I didn't see much during the rebellion. Didn't do a lot of fighting, and heck, I wasn't even a Crystal Gem until way after it ended! You see, I was stuck inside of a mirror for years until your mom rescued me from it!"

"A mirror?!" Steven gasped, "How'd that happen?!"

Lapis chuckled at Steven's question. "You see: unlike my condensed version of the Gem War, _that_ story will take a lot more time to tell. And I'm not sure if I'm in the mood for that one just yet."

"Aw come on!" Steven whined. He pouted and crossed his arms flippantly, how could he not after being teased with such a juicy tidbit?

"Hey, no need to whine about it! I just think that story ought to be saved for a _big_ occasion. Like, say, a housewarming gift? Or maybe I could save it for a birthday. But anyway..." Lapis then fell silent and stared off into the horizon. The sun was setting over the horizon, turning Beach City and the salty sea a dazzling pink and orange hue. Steven hadn't paid too much attention to it earlier, but the ambience of the crashing waves and seagull calls combined with the sunset was... ethereal.. Calming, in a sense.

"Do you like watching sunsets, Steven?" Lapis asked.

"Yeah. Dad and I watch them sometimes, they're really pretty!"

"They are. And when you're watching them on the beach of all places, it's a whole different thing entirely." She then sighed wistfully, and her cheeks began to glow a faint navy. "I watched plenty of sunsets with Rose back when she was alive. Just the two of us, sometimes walking hand-in-hand on the beach, other times laying down together and taking in the atmosphere... I have no idea how that never got old after hundreds of years, but they just didn't. Each and every sunset felt special, felt _magical_. And even now, these sunsets still haven't lost their appeal, especially now that I have a new friend to enjoy them with."

Lapis then fell silent and continued watching the sunset. Steven wanted to break the silence, but struggled with finding something to say before giving up and staying quiet. Quite honestly, nothing really needed to be said: it was a beautiful evening with _the_ perfect atmosphere, saying anything unnecessary would likely detract from it.

And for another six months they repeated the process: Steven and Lapis would play on the beach while Jasper, Peridot, and Greg would work on the house, then they would watch the sun set, and the day would end with Greg taking a sleepy Steven home to his car wash and sleeping before returning the next morning. It was soon after Steven's birthday when the cozy beach house addition to the temple was completed and he finally moved in. And under the roof of the Crystal Gems, Steven Quartz Universe took his first steps into the wild world these warriors lived in... after a four year delay, unfortunately.

 **(Author's Note: WHEW. REALLY sorry for the massive delay, everyone. I can't really think of a good excuse for this: a part of it is me juggling several stories here and elsewhere, another part is me watching a bunch of TV and playing video games I have been missing out on. While other times it's been constant fits of procrastination and demotivation.)**

 **(But more than anything: a part of it has to do with me just plain not really knowing what to DO with this story. I rushed in with the prologue expecting to know exactly what I wanted to do... only for my mind on where and how to develop the story to constantly change. And this chapter is proof: I tried to go straight into Steven living his life with the Crystal Gems and getting a taste of his powers, but I struggled so much with that chapter that I decided to expand the prologue and kinda use it to set up Steven living with them. And dump a bit of my lore.)**

 **(Which of course already shows some divergence from canon: Rose having explicitly shattered all Diamonds (or so Lapis heard), as well as Lapis dropping hints over having been in a relationship with Rose. I'm not a shipper or anything, and I really REALLY hope I don't step on anybody's toes, but I'll give a warning now that without too many spoilers I plan on doing a few non-canon romances. Not a whole lot focus, I don't want this to become a CW-esque relationship dramafest. But I find it interesting to explore character dynamics in this way, and while thinking of how the Gems would form relationships with each other simply liked the idea of Lapis and Rose having been an item in the past before Greg came into the picture.)**

 **(So anyway, that's all for now dear readers. I promise to have more chapters written in a more timely manner, scout's honor! Trust me, the story REALLY begins next time: basically as Gem Glow, but told far differently if that makes sense...)**


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